


guess it was a lawless land

by postfixrevolution



Series: twenty seconds, twenty years [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Relationship, Established Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Mild Language, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Relationship Advice, felix is more of a bg character since the focus is on sylvain+dimitri, it's extremely brief and from sylvain's parents..., no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 12:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21119120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/postfixrevolution/pseuds/postfixrevolution
Summary: Dimitri shakes his head at Sylvain, grabbing two bottles of water out of their fridge. As he nudges the door closed, he makes sure to pry the magnetic expo marker off the side of their whiteboard and smudge away the current message with the pad of his thumb. The black residue ends up wiped against the hem of his new tee—unconsciously, so you really can't blame him. Tugging the cap off with his teeth, Dimitri dutifully rewrites the words in curling, inky penmanship.Days since Sylvain and Felix's latest break up:0





	guess it was a lawless land

**Author's Note:**

> i listened to taylor swift's [death by a thousand cuts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTEFSuFfgnU) on repeat to write this, so the title is rightfully taken from there. give it a listen, it's a very felix-core song
> 
> **NOTE**: please be sure to SHOW CREATOR'S STYLE for this fic!! it's just for a few little things, but it's cute and i like it... the button should be at the top among the bookmark/comments/subscribe options!

Dimitri can hear it before he even enters the apartment. 

Taylor Swift is _ blaring_.

He laments their neighbours before he laments himself, hoping to god that they don't end up with another noise complaint. The first time was bad enough, with their highly religious neighbours threatening to call the wrath of God and all his angels—as well as the cops—on Sylvain (and by extension, Felix) for having sex _ way _ too loudly for the state of their thin walls. That incident was embarrassing for everyone. Dimitri still thinks the "apology" lunch Sylvain bought him and Felix was quite pitiful—as all things from the Burger King across the street tend to be—but given how blatantly the redhead was smirking while the neighbours scolded them, he really doubts that Sylvain was ever sorry at all. 

The blond grimaces as he fumbles for his keys, jiggling the door open. He can't imagine the lanky neighbour with a black-on-black wardrobe and serial killer smile will take too kindly to Miss Swift's _ Death by a Thousand Cuts _bleeding through the wall that he and Felix's room share, either. It's only Tuesday. He isn't sure what the man does to fill his time during the weekdays, but given that Dimitri only ever sees him leave his apartment at the oddest hours of the night, as Dimitri himself is returning from a late night shift or gym session, he can't imagine the nocturnal creature is enjoying the impromptu music session. 

Walking into his shared apartment, Dimitri can't imagine that he himself will enjoy it much, either. 

Felix either immensely enjoys this song or hates it with an unyielding, unending passion. It's hard to tell with the man, really, and not only because he's pointed just about every knife in their kitchen drawers at Dimitri when asked for his thoughts on the musician in question. The threats certainly don't help his understanding, but neither does the fact that Felix only plays this particular song when he and Sylvain are having a _ fight_. The two of them are melodramatic enough that each fight is more or less a miniature break-up. They're also purely idiotic enough that every minor disgreement is _ also _a fight, and that leads Dimitri directly back to his first point. He has the entirety of this song unwillingly memorized now.

As expected, Sylvain is home. He sits on the couch looking sullen and sleep-deprived, eating cereal out of a bowl completely devoid of milk. There is a glass of milk sitting neatly at the coffee table before him, untouched and slick with condensation. Sylvain has forgotten to use a coaster, so Dimitri faintly registers that things are _ quite bad_. Sighing, he beelines for the kitchen before greeting his red-headed friend. 

Sylvain doesn't even acknowledge him, eating his milkless cereal in an uncharacteristic stupor. Miss Swift is in the middle of woefully recounting her attempts to pretend everything is okay (_when it's not_, Dimitri's mind finishes, perfectly in tune with the piano trilling in the background) as the blond sits down beside Sylvain. The couch cushions dip, and Sylvain tilts his head ever so slightly, tired eyes landing on his friend. With a sigh, Dimitri breaks eye contact, lifting Sylvain's glass to put a coaster underneath it.

"I think I really fucked up this time, 'Mitri." 

Dimitri hums in acknowledgement. He's not inclined to agree or deny it. Living close to them for the better part of twenty-four years has left him with quite a lot of knowledge, and it takes very little of it to know that things are hardly ever as simple as only _ one _ of them messing up. They're similar in that fashion: flawed in ways that allow them to understand each other—when they aren't too busy wallowing in sugary cereal and Taylor Swift songs, at least. 

Dimitri dully recognizes the cereal Sylvain is eating as the one Felix claims to loathe, only to offer it aggressively to Annette and Mercedes whenever the younger woman and her girlfriend visit. They accept it only when Felix pours himself a small bowl, idly listening to them regale him with stories of their co-owned bakery as he fails at pretending he actually hates the cereal. Sylvain has seen this multiple times in action, and even Dimitri is surprised at his self control in not teasing Felix about it. With the way they silently take turns buying it once the box empties, Dimitri just chalks it off as one of those _ Sylvain and Felix things_.

It occurs to him that the Taylor Swift and off-brand Captain Crunch in depressing, sensory-overloading tandem is just another _ Sylvain and Felix thing_, too. It shouldn't be as painfully, unfortunately endearing as it is, but Dimitri supposes he's been hit over the head enough times during the past twenty-plus years of their friendship to think of it as nothing less.

Solemnly, he places a hand on Sylvain's shoulder. 

"At risk of sounding rude, you _ do _say that every time this happens, Sylvain."

Sylvain places the cereal bowl down more forcefully than needed, ceramic rattling against wood harshly enough to be heard over the loud melody of Miss Swift's chorus. 

"I knowww," he whines, hands running through the fiery mess of orange atop his head. "I _ know_, but—" his gaze flickers down the hall toward Felix's door, "but this time, it feels _ worse_. I barely slept the entire weekend you were gone, and whenever Felix wasn't out—which was most of the weekend, mind you—he would lock himself in his room and loop that _ stupid _ song! If I have to think about Felix likening _ my _ fuckup to his _ death _ via a thousand fucking cuts for one more song, I might go _ insane_, 'Mitri." 

Collapsing back into the plush cushions, Sylvain buries his face in his hands. "Either from the guilt or from his Annette-stained taste in music," he bemoans, voice muffled against his palms. It's a large outburst, so Dimitri lets Sylvain recover from it, head lolled over onto the back of the couch. He's relatively silent, letting the song start another loop anew, but the opening is quiet enough for Dimitri catch the way his friend sniffles. His chest aches a little at the sound.

"You seem in the mood to answer," Dimitri offers gently, "so I take it you won't mind me asking what happened?" 

Sylvain sniffles again, fanning out his fingers just enough to peek out at him. They have a decent stare-down—one honey-hazel eye against Dimitri's own expectant gaze— but the redhead eventually relents. His hands flop uselessly into his lap, and Dimitri is conscientious enough not to comment on the teary sheen of Sylvain's eyes. 

"It's pretty pathetic," Sylvain laughs humorlessly, "Even by my standards."

With a sage hum, Dimitri stands up, walking into their kitchen. 

"Sounds like I have quite the tale ahead of me. Water?"

"God, _ yes_. You're the best, 'Mitri."

"I've been told such a thing," Dimitri jokes, "Oddly enough, from the same person saying it now."

At that, Sylvain barks out a laugh, far more genuine than the last. 

"And I mean it every time," Sylvain says smoothly back, voice laced with the same playful tone he would use to flirt with Felix, just to see him fluster and hiss. A glance over Dimitri's shoulder reveals an honest smile on his friend's face, though, legs folded beneath him on the couch as he watches Dimitri mill about in the kitchen. "You care too much for your own good, Dimitri. I'd never change that about you, but I hope you know Fe and I could give you our first born child and it _ still _wouldn't be enough to properly thank you."

"Oh, promising your first born child despite being in the middle of a breakup?" Dimitri teases. "Perhaps you don't need me to hear you out after all."

"C'mon, don't be like that! You know what I meant."

Dimitri shakes his head at Sylvain, grabbing two bottles of water out of their fridge. As he nudges the door closed, he makes sure to pry the magnetic expo marker off the side of their whiteboard and smudge away the current message with the pad of his thumb. The black residue ends up wiped against the hem of his new tee—unconsciously, so you really can't blame him. Tugging the cap off with his teeth, Dimitri dutifully rewrites the words in curling, inky penmanship.

** _Days since Sylvain and Felix's latest break up:  
__0___**

Sylvain snorts from the living room, clearly able to see what the blond has written. 

"The fact that Dorothea and Ingrid were able to rope even _ you _ into keeping that board updated is one of the scariest things I've ever seen."

Shrugging, Dimitri returns to his seat at Sylvain's side, pushing one of the bottles into his hands. 

"I _ am _the best equipped for it, seeing as I live here. Ingrid and Dorothea are quite invested in this, as well. Making sure they're aware of your shenanigans whenever they come to visit is the least we can do in exchange for Dorothea's free opera house invitations."

Humming in agreement, Sylvain cracks open his drink and takes a long swig. He moves to put it down on their coffee table before realizing there are no coasters there to hold it, opting to rest it in his lap instead. His hands fiddle with the bottle restlessly as he sits, fingernails clicking against the ridges along the bottlecap's side.

"Zero days yet again, huh?" Sylvain sighs, staring off into the kitchen. "I know it's kind of our _ thing _ at this point, but sometimes I wonder..."

"You wonder...?"

"Yeah," Sylvain mutters softly, fingers stilling around his bottle. "I wonder what it might be like... Y'know, in a future where we don't have that sign."

Dimitri blinks.

"Oh, should we— D-do you want to take the sign down?" he garbles. "I can tell Dorothea and Ingrid that—" 

"No, no!" Sylvain cuts him off quickly, an embarrassed waver to the laugh that accompanies it. "It's not the sign. It's... I was thinking about a future where we don't have to keep doing this stupid thing we do: where he blares Taylor Swift and I eat cereal alone on the couch like the depressed bastard I am without him. Where we don't have the sign because I don't _ have _ to break up with Felix. I... I want to marry him, Dimitri."

A tidal wave of emotions hits Dimitri all at once. Elation is the first, followed by a dizzying mixture of shock and utter pride. He wants nothing more than to tackle Sylvain into a hug, shake him by the shoulders and order him to propose to Felix _ right away_, but the grimace that accompanies Sylvain's brilliant red blush stops him short. He comes down quickly from his high. Felix's go-to break up song is still playing loudly from the other man's bedroom, and Dimitri realizes exactly why Sylvain seems so torn up.

"Oh."

Sylvain smiles weakly.

"Yeah. _ Oh._"

Dimitri sits with his hand folded around the water bottle in his lap, letting the music fill the silence between them. Eventually, he turns back to Sylvain, who seems to have recovered from the brunt of his blush. The rueful twist of his lips still remains.

"Does Felix—"

"Yeah."

"Ah. And he still...?"

"It's not his fault." Sylvain says this quickly, rushed out in the space of a single breath. When Dimitri looks at him curiously, Sylvain sighs. "It's... Well, you wanted me to tell you what happened while you were gone, right? Don't tell me you're backing out now," he teases, but the defeated tone of his voice makes the playfulness fall short. 

"I _ have _ been told I care about my friends too much," he reminds the redhead fondly. Sylvain manages a breathy chuckle at that.

"We had lunch with my parents the day after you left. Normally, I'd make up some lie about being busy, but they actually came here to pick me up, so there wasn't really any chance to say no."

Dimitri, well aware of Sylvain's less than idea relationship with his family, nods silently. While it's true that Sylvain is the favored son out of their two—Miklan long since having been disowned—being the chosen carrier of wealthy, weighty legacy is no simple feat. Their entire circle is more than aware of the extremely outdated values that his parents have been foisting on him since birth, no matter how cavalier the redhead tends to be when discussing the topic. 

"Felix didn't even have to come, but he did anyway," Sylvain says smally. The look he tosses in Felix's direction isn't lost on Dimitri, and neither is the way his lips tug up at the corners at the mention of his boyfriend, no matter how heavy the topic he's currently discussing. "It was just my luck that my parents came to tell me about some random heiress they wanted me to marry, all to help them grow our family company. I guess they never stopped thinking that me dating Felix was a _ phase_," he spits, "and I couldn't _ stand _ it."

Sylvain scoffs darkly as he recalls the scene, nose scrunching up in revulsion.

"You should have seen the mess we caused. I definitely broke a glass, but my father just _ had _ to one-up me and break two more. Mother was in shambles, playing up the crocodile tears while not even _ trying _ to stop him as he alternated between yelling at me, Felix, and the employees. He threatened to cut me off until I agreed to marry the girl, and I guess I was tired of them thinking they had any control over me, so I," Sylvain wheezes out something between a laugh and a self-depreciative sob, "I told them I already decided to marry Felix."

He stops speaking after that, hands tight around the bottle. It creaks and crackles under the restless wringing of his fingers, and Dimitri reaches over carefully, prying the thing out of Sylvain's white-knuckled grip. He relaxes imperceptibly at the tap of Dimitri's fingers against the back of his hand, so Dimitri leaves his hand there after he takes the bottle away, resting reassuringly over Sylvain's own.

The redhead's fingers are still curled into tense, trembling fists. Dimitri doesn't imagine they'll relax until the tight press of his lips does, spilling whatever words still struggle to fall out from behind them. Looking at Sylvain, it's always been easy to tell when he still had something to say. Dimitri is hardly the only one to know it, but he might be one of the few who will wait for it before pressing. 

Sylvain doesn't thank him for it outright, but there's gratitude enough in the way he slowly relaxes, fingers unfurling as he slumps back into the cushions. He holds to Dimitri's pinky, endearingly childish in the way he thumbs over the knuckle of it.

"I can tell that Felix only thinks I said it to prove a point to my parents," he mutters eventually. "But that's not true. The news could've given them dual heart attacks on the spot, but nothing could ever hold a candle to the idea of spending the rest of my life with him. I grew up never wanting for anything, and it worked all the way up until I met Felix."

"You should tell him that."

Sylvain snorts softly, tilting his head up to meet Dimitri's gaze.

"Over or in between the Taylor Swift marathon?"

Dimitri chuckles heartily at that one, pulling his hand free from Sylvain's to place it reassuringly on his shoulder.

"She's lauded as quite the romantic icon, so how about during?" Sylvain rolls his eyes, unable to help the goofy grin that stretches across his face as he laughs. "Try talking to him. If you tell him exactly what you told me, I'm very sure that he'll believe you."

"Are you now?" Sylvain teases, arching an eyebrow at the blond. 

"Being the record-keeper for all your breakups automatically makes me the best record-keeper for the times you make up afterward, don't you think? He cares for you just as much as you care for him, Sylvain. I highly doubt he would go through such theatrics," he glances toward Felix's still-shut door, "if he didn't."

"Right as always, 'Mitri."

With a deep breath, Sylvain pulls himself up to his feet, a determined look on his face. Dimitri follows suit, although in a much more subdued manner. 

"I suppose I'll leave you two to it, then. Do try to settle things before we get another noise complaint."

"You got it, your highness," Sylvain winks, shooting him a mock salute. Dimitri is halfway out the door again when Sylvain calls his name, stopping him short. "Hey. You'll be the best man at our wedding, right?"

Dimitri rolls his eyes, unable to bite back his smile. 

"Getting a little ahead of yourself again, aren't you?" Dimitri arches an eyebrow at him. "I'd be quite insulted if you chose anyone else, though."

Sylvain cackles at that, carefree and cutting clear through the music that still fills the apartment around them. When he calms down, the expression he wears is warm, a fond smile set permanently on his features. 

"Thanks, Dimitri." 

He looks and sounds so _ sincere_, and Dimitri knows there's no point in worrying about him _ or _Felix. He tilts his head in acknowledgment before he steps out of the door.

"That's what friends are for, Sylvain."

* * *

When Dimitri comes back later that night, the apartment is silent and the whiteboard on the fridge has been wiped clean. He smiles, glancing at Sylvain and Felix's closed doors before creeping into the kitchen, pulling the expo marker free and penning in something new.

** _Days until Sylvain and Felix's wedding:_ ** ** _  
_ ** ** _______ **

**Author's Note:**

> NOW WITH [ART](https://twitter.com/midoriyaizuhugs/status/1201312915573411845?s=20)!! 
> 
> the [workskin i used](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4390949) is a slightly edited veresion of the one by [La_Temperanza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Temperanza/pseuds/La_Temperanza)! they have a lot of really cool skins/tutorials, so go check them out!
> 
> i'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/panntherism) if you'd like to talk to me about sylvix (or sylvmitri? :3c) and if you know how much i love good coffee, the name is postfix <3


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